Developer Proposes Baby Steps for Detroit

By

Laura Kusisto and

Matthew Dolan

March 28, 2013 2:12 a.m. ET

Detroit's most active real-estate investor thinks he can teach the hobbled Motor City to walk.

Dan Gilbert, the billionaire mortgage magnate who has bought more than 16 properties around the downtown commercial corridor, is expected Thursday to unveil a plan that envisions recasting the city's core as a pedestrian paradise, with plazas, outdoor cafes and retail activity spilling onto the streets.